For unto us a child is born....

Here is a photo taken today, Christmas Eve. My first summertime Christmas ever. My first Christmas away from all family. My first Christmas with penguins!

To my incredible family and friends reading this blog, I wish you a blessed and joyful Christmas and great hope in the New Year.

I really miss being with my family and friends. But being alone at Christmas has made me focus a lot more on the true meaning of Christmas…the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am focusing today and tomorrow on the blessed event of Jesus’ birth and on the remarkable and wonderful people that He has put in my life.

Who are all of those guys in tuxedos?

Guess I should have worn my tuxedo on the ship tonight. After all, I was around all of these guys and ladies today who were wearing them!



What an incredible day. After a long two and a half-hour drive through somewhat boring terrain, we arrived at the Punta Tombo Nature Reserve. This spectacular setting is home for the largest gathering of penguins on the South American mainland. It is said that there are about 800,000 penguins here at the peak of the season.


I took hundreds of photos. I’ve tried to include some of the best in this entry. You can see some of the families in their nests. There was virtually a nest under every shrub in this area which goes for miles. Each male and female penguin hatch two eggs (generally) per year. You can see the babies as those who look “fluffy” and are almost entirely gray.


If you look at some of these photos you can see penguins on the next ridge beyond those seen close up. They were everywhere and were not shy when it came to walking right up to us humans. Perhaps the most enjoyable thing was watching them walk. You could almost hear them saying things like:


“Gosh…I guess it’s time to start the long trek down to the water for lunch” or


“I wish all of these people would just leave us alone and give us a little privacy” or


“Hey you with the telephoto….I’m here posing for you. Hey you! Hey! Geeesh!”


Their waddle is hilarious. What an incredible time!


You can also see a couple of photos of guanacos…llama-like creatures with faces like a kangaroo. All in all a wonderful day in Argentina. I think I like the nature and scenic stops more than the big city stops.


Thanks, Mr. and Mrs. Penguin for being stand-ins for my family and friends this Christmas Eve.

Puerto Madryn, Argentina...founded July 28

Our port today was Puerto Madryn. I only took a couple of photos in the actual port as I spent most of the day on a shore excursion with penguins. See the Punta Tombo blog entry.



One of the photos here shows a street sign. I took it because the street was named after the founding date of this city…which happens to be the same founding date of my life…several years apart of course.


It was a nice little Atlantic Ocean port city.

Carl Meets Rita Cosby

One of our guest speakers is journalist Rita Cosby, formerly of the Fox News Channel. I stopped briefly to introduce myself to her and we talked for the good part of a half hour. She is very personable.  We both went to USC...she the University of South Carolina....me the University of Southern California!  I am looking very forward to hearing her presentation.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Today our stop was in Montevideo, Uruguay. I can now add Uruguay to my list of countries visited. I didn’t do much here. I took two walks…one though town to take some photos of the old buildings and the farmer’s market.



After lunch I took a walk along the seawall. I’ve also displayed a few of the photos I took of the port as we are leaving Montevideo. Not the most scenic port, but I liked all of the colors of the shipping containers and hoists.

Crystal vs. Regent -- On-Board Communication

In this comparison, I will mention three parts of the on-board communication experiences I have had on the Regent Seven Seas Voyager and the Crystal Symphony.

1)  Movies--I enjoyed catching up on some of the classics while on the Voyager using the movies on demand feature.  It was great to be able to watch part of a movie, go to an event and then pick up the movie where you left off.   This was a great feature.  I don't believe the Symphony has that feature.  Both ships had an extensive DVD library as well where passengers can watch movies from the comfort of their room.

2)  Television Options--I found the television station options very limited on the Voyager.  I am a huge sports fan and was traveling on the Voyager during college football season.  I, and many others on board, were very disappointed that there were very few football games available on the ship.  We did get a glipse occasionally on ESPN, when it was available. 

I know I'm biased with my USC football.  (Perhaps I should see the lack of coverage as a blessing...I missed USC's two worst losses in over a decade while I was on board.  I rarely miss a home game in a normal season...but was glad to be on the other side of the world for these two games!)   I was not the only one missing football, however.  There were avid Alabama, UCLA and Notre Dame--and other fans on board as well.

On the other hand, aboard the Crystal Symphony I had not one but TWO ESPN channels.  In the first two days of my cruise I have been able to watch several college football bowl games and my parents' Jayhawks in basketball. (Go Uncle Phog!) 

Both ships had Fox News as well as CNN (thank you both cruise lines...if you have one you must have the other...as those who watch one usually can't tolerate the other!)

3)  E-mail Satellite Service.  I am actually drafting this entry aboard the Crystal Symphony.  Since we left our first port, I have been very impressed with the accessibility and speed of the satellite and e-mail service.   I know on the Voyager, I used a great deal of my paid "minutes" logging on and being kicked out of the system.  I know this may not be a fair analysys as it could have a lot to do with the weather, the location of the ship, etc. 

I am well aware that there are places on the globe where the ships will get no satellite reception.  During our time in Antarctica and the Chilean fjords we have been told we will have none.  I understand this and it is just a fact of life. 

For those who have never traveled on a ship, you should know that you will never experience the same speeds you do at home as this is a satellite connection, not a "plugged in" high-speed connection. 

When I consider all three factors of communcations mentioned in this entry I have to give this point to Crystal Cruises!

Crystal vs. Regent -- Cabin Comparison

Some people may say, “seen one cruise ship cabin, you’ve seen them all”. Well this is simply not the case. Another of the topics from my “Cruising 101” class is with regard to cabin types. While there are dozens of cabin types, most cabins on a cruise ship can fit generally into four categories:


1) Inside Cabins—No window—These staterooms face the interior of the ship


2) Outside or Window Cabins—These cabins have portholes or a rectangular window (that do not open) and face the exterior of the ship.


3) Balcony or Verandah Cabin—These cabins have sliding glass doors (or a hinged door in some cases) that open up to a private balcony.


4) Suites—There are suites of all sizes, shapes and square footages. These are the nicest and largest cabins on the ships.


In this comparison, I would have to say that I had “comparable” cabin types on both ships. On the Regent Seven Seas Voyager I had one of their “entry level” cabins. On most “premium” or middle level cruise lines most people would think I was talking about an inside cabin when I say “entry level”. But on the Voyager, even the lowest level cabin is a balcony suite. I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in to my cabin the first day of my Regent Cruise.


My cabin on the Crystal Symphony was a Category A Balcony. While I would consider this cabin to be comparable to the category I had on Regent, a Category A on Crystal is not an entry level cabin. It is more of a middle to upper-level category.


Before I award my point, I have to state that both cabins were extremely comfortable. I was lucky to travel in both of these cabins. And I would cruise time after time in either of these rooms.


That said, here are my main reasons for which I have awarded this “point”.


a) I’m a guy. Like most other guys, I’ve never really paid much attention to things like closet space or drawer space when I check in to my cabin. As long as there is room for everything I’m pretty easy to please. But I was spoiled with my good-sized walk-in closet on the Regent Seven Seas Voyager. I was able to hang up all of my clothes and fit all of my folding clothes, baseball caps (go Trojans, go Dodgers, go Angels, go Cardinals, etc.), jackets and sweatshirts on the shelves and drawers provided. I also liked having the safe in the walk-in closet.


b) Again, as a man, I don’t normally analyze the bathroom situation. As long as I have a sink to shave in, a shower to clean up in and a facility…well you know the rest of that. But after having a spacious bathroom on the Voyager…with a separate bath and shower and plenty of counter space, I found the bathroom adequate but smaller on the Symphony. Compared to the mainstream or premium cruise lines the bathroom (with a tub) on the Symphony is very nice. But when I compare these two ships, again the Voyager comes out ahead.


While there are many other things I could analyze in my comparison of these two cruise lines, I think it should be clear who gets the point for this one. Regent Seven Seas gets this point.

Crystal Cruises vs. Regent Seven Seas Cruises

I am going to use this blog for a bit of analysis…I hope this analysis will be helpful to my clients and to future clients who may be reading this blog. As the owner of findacruisedeal.com I get to travel quite a bit. In the last two months I have had the pleasure of traveling on two of the luxury cruise lines…almost back to back.



It has given me the opportunity to compare the two. I do this not to make one look better than the other as I would book my clients on either of these cruise lines without any hesitation whatsoever. I will not announce one the “winner” but will end each entry by giving a point to one cruise line or the other. Neither will I be giving one aspect of my comparison any more weight than the other.


I should make it clear that I am somewhat comparing apples to apples. In the class I teach “Cruising 101” I put the major cruise lines in to one of three levels (OK….3 ½ since there is one that really fits between two of the categories.


Both Crystal Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises fall into the top or “luxury” category. I would not do this side by side or back to back comparison between two cruise lines that fall into different categories.


Among the blog entries that follow this one I will occasionally use the heading “Crystal vs. Regent”. When you see this you will know that this is another of my analyses regarding this topic.

The Crystal Symphony

Yesterday I boarded the Crystal Symphony in Buenos Aires. This is my third Crystal cruise but my first on the Symphony. My previous two cruises on the Crystal Harmony have been among the favorites of the 50-70 cruises I have taken. I have been told that the ship just completed an extensive refurbishing just a few months ago. I found the ship to be very appealing and luxurious the minute I stepped on board.

With this being a holiday sailing, the ship was decorated with both Christmas and Hanukkah decorations. Tonight we had a ceremony in the atrium where the captain, the cruise director and a woman with more than 200 Crystal cruises under her belt lit the tree. It was a nice ceremony where the staff served hot chocolate or hot wine. Passengers and crew joined together in the singing of Christmas carols.

I will look forward to my days ahead on the beautiful Crystal Symphony.

Buenos Aires

Yesterday I landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina to begin my 17-night cruise. The ship “overnighted” in Buenos Aires. I was able to see some of the city but did not get to do many of the typical touristy things such as watching a tango show, dining out or viewing “Evita” at a local theatre.

Much like the main focus of my India blog was on that of the people, my main focus for this entry about Buenos Aires is the architecture. The city has an interesting mix of very old and historic buildings among modern and unique skyscrapers. On one corner you can see a Russian Orthodox church like the one pictured here…on another you can see a masterpiece of modern architecture…on still another you can see a building more than a century old. Modern apartment buildings are built nearby homes that were built in the 1920’s.

I’ve also included a photo or two of the view from my “hop on-hop off” bus tour and of a street market that I walked through while waiting to board the ship.


Our sail away from Buenos Aires reveals the beautiful skyline.

I'll be home for Christmas....if only in my dreams...

Got upgraded to first class as I was boarding my flight from LAX to Miami.  Now I have four hours to kill before I leave for Buenos Aires.  It is so much different traveling when you fly first or business class.  Thank you, Lord, for the upgrade!  While these two flights and the layovers will take about 20 hours total, that seems like a piece of cake after my 44-hour journey from Cape Town just three plus weeks ago. 

I've included a couple of photos from the flight in to Miami.  Two show the great cloud patterns I experiences as we approached the west shore of Florida from the Gulf of Mexico.  The other shows the cruise ship terminal (with two Carnival ships and one Royal Caribbean ship) on our approach to the Miami airport.

The melancholy Christmas music they play in the airport terminal may be cheery for those who are coming home to family and friends...but it sets a different mood when you are flying away from everyone you know.  (OK...I know...I'm already getting philosophical and mushy and I haven't even reached my destination yet.)

If I get really bored while I'm here in the Admiral's Club I may do another post.  If not, my next one will be from Buenos Aires.  Adios for now!

On the road again...

I am currently at LAX about to board my flight for yet another adventure.  I change planes in Miami and then on to Buenos Aires to board the newly refurbrished Crystal Symphony.  I will be cruising around the horn and to Antarctica.  I've never been around either horn and now I'm doing them both in the same two-month period.  I also have never been away from family at Christmas so that may be a tough day for me.  More from Miami when I land there and have a couple of hours to kill!

Here we go again!

I haven't really caught my breath yet from the last great trip and I'm off again in a few days for another big adventure.  Be sure to stay tuned to this blog for more details.   By the end of this trip I will have finally visited all seven continents.  Wonder how many people are in that club?